Fallen Plans
by WickedScientist
Summary: "So let me get this straight. We have an angel that killed the guy whose vessel he inhabits, a man who is somehow heavens greatest weapon and a knight of hell, and... well for lack of a better word, Lucifer. Yeah that sounds like I should hand the coin right over"
1. Prologue

No human could consume the amount of caffeine needed at this hour, but Harry was quickly working up to it. A large yawn escaped the lips of the only openly practicing Wizard in the Chicago area. He continued to drive down the street at this ungodly hour, picking up his coffee cup from time to time to take a drink. Even though it was probably just past 2am, there were plenty of cars still on the road. Chicago is a huge city, and that amount of people packed into one area meant there was always someone who was up and busy. At this time of the day is was more than likely people leaving from Bars and Clubs, either working or just out enjoying life.

After about 10 more minutes, Harry Dresden slowed the blue beetle to stop in front of a small church. The wizard had never been to this particular church, honestly the only holy place he had even been to was Father Forthill's giant church. He never really attended church and wasn't the strongest believer into religion despite his best friend being a Knight of the Cross. Harry release yet another yawn as he scrubbed his face, the sharp bristles of his unshaven face scratched against his ungloved hand. He grabbed his coffee and drained the last of the liquid, hoping that this would magically wake him up even more.

When the alertness he was hoping for didn't kick in, Harry grumbled and stepped out of his tiny car. All 6'9 of the wizard crawled out of the old VW bug and stretched letting his back pop in a few places. He straightened his heavy leather duster and started to head towards the doors. The walk to the church wasn't long, but it took awhile to maneuver through the amount of cops and crime scene tape. Luckily Harry was taller than most people, he could easily see over the tops of most of the cops milling around. He was able to spot the bright blonde hair of Sargent Karrin Murphy. Harry quickly caught up to her just outside the door of the church.

"Murph!" Harry shouted as he approached the short woman. She just trained her bright blue eyes on him and nodded at an officer next to her. The second officer cleared out of the way before the wizard approached. "You know, you should really be grateful that I agreed to even get out of bed." The wizard smirked but Karrin was not amused.

"You should be grateful that they even allowed me to call you." Karrin retorted in a short tone. "After I was demoted, they didn't even want me to talk to you outside of work."

"Murph, I said I was sorry." Harry started to say but was halted when Karrin placed a hand out in a stop motion. She shook her head.

"It was my choice," She spoke quietly. "I don't regret it… How is Molly doing anyway?"

Harry just shrugged nonchalantly, "The grasshopper is a fast learner, but she has a long way to go."

"I'm sure, she'll end up being great" Karrin gave a small smile before turning towards the Church. "Anyway, the reason they agreed to this was because it was something that I think might be up your alley."

Harry silently followed the much shorter woman into the darkened church. Surveying the surrounding area, the wizard noticed that all the pews were thrown about as if a tornado ran through the building. All the ornate stained glass that decorated the walls were shattered, glass littered the ground. No lights were on in the place, a quick look up to the ceiling showed that all the bulbs must have blown out. The only source of illumination came from the flashlights from all the police around. Harry walked towards the body laying on the ground in the center of the chaos. If Harry didn't know any better, it looked like she was the epicenter of whatever happened here.

Karrin nodded at some of the other officers around and they cleared out of the way leaving the Sargent and the Wizard alone with the dead woman. "I was only able to get you about 5 mins, then you have to leave." Murphy looked very serious. Harry didn't want to ask what strings she had to pull to allow him here, he was thankful for having a friend like Karrin.

"What can you tell me about her?"

"Name is Jennifer Davis. She was a waitress at a small dinner, an only child and both her parents are dead. Nothing special about her, or that stands out." Karrin read off a small notepad.

Harry looked at the body. She looked mid to late twenties, long brown hair that was spread out on the ground. She looked very peaceful, almost as if sleeping. Harry looked her over a few times and was able to easily pick out her cause of death, a stab wound to the heart. The wizard frowned in confusion. It didn't seem like a case that he was needed for, it's just a simple stab wound. Perhaps if she was a wizard too then the mess could have just been her death curse being released.

"Look at her hand" Murphy instructed, Harry looked at her right hand which seemed to be curled into a fist. He crouched down and took the dead woman's hand. He pried it open with a bit of strength, it was a cold night and rigor mortis may have started to kick in already. He looked down and Karrin shone her flashlight at the hand. Harry's heart picked up pace and he swallowed, mouth suddenly becoming dry.

"Is that…" He started to say and looked at Murphy, they made eye contact and he could see the fierceness in her eyes. Harry looked back at the mark burned into Jennifer's hand, there was no doubt. This woman was part of the Order of the Blackened Denarius, the wizard could see the snake motif etched into her palm. "Where is the coin?" He asked but seemed to know the answer already.

"No coin was found." Karrin answered, "But I already warned everyone not to touch it if they find one." Harry nodded and stood up to his full height. "That is not the whole reason I called you over here." Karrin continued to talk. She moved to the other side of the room where there was a flood light setup. She clicked the light on and Harry covered his eyes at the sudden brightness. After a few moments he was able to adjust to the new bright environment around him. He looked back down at the woman.

"What the hell?" He spoke aloud to no one in particular. Harry could see dark black scorch marks in the ground as if something had burned around her. The marks started at her shoulders and spread out to touch each side of the building. Harry looked in fascination and these marks, and could have sworn they were in the shape of wings.


	2. The Boys are Back in Town

Chapter 2: The Boys are Back in Town

The rumble of the 67 Chevy Impala could be heard long before the beautiful black sheen could be seen down the road. Eventually the car made its way down the road towards the impossibly big city, the pair of men sat silently in the car. The driver kept his eyes trained on the road, glaring as if trying to make the pavement apologize for being so never ending and making the drive take way too long. The taller of the two stretched as best as possible in the passenger's seat, he kept his eyes trained on the newspaper rereading the article for the countless time. The taller ran his hands over his eyes, he continued to move his hand up to tangle in his long hair. He sighed and looked over at his brother letting his hand fall into his lap.

"I said it once…" The elder brother spoke when he realized that he had his younger brother's attention. "I don't like this."

"I know Dean." The younger winchester said, "But Cas asked us to."

Dean frowned but continued to drive. Castiel had asked them to follow up on a murder in Chicago. He believed Angels were starting is dissolve into chaos, unsure of how to deal with the Darkness that had been released. The brothers couldn't see any of that happening though, from the outside it only seemed that both Angels and Demons were just trying to stay clear of the impending doom.

"Yeah, but last time we went to Chicago..." Dean shook his head. He recalled the memory, the boys discovered that several supernatural creatures were running the underground of the city. They were warned not to come back, but that was about 3 years ago. It was a big city, there was no way they would be recognized… right?

Dean grabbed the cup of coffee and finished the last of the drink. He couldn't even remember how long they had been on the road, but he really need more caffeine. "Alright, tell me again about this case." The short haired brother spoke.

"Jennifer Davis was found dead in a church. Stabbed through the heart." He looked again over the article. "Cas said he thinks it was an Angel murder, it would make sense the paper said there were black marks left in the church in the shape of wings."

"Yeah but I don't get it." Dean answered. "Angels gank each other all the time, why should we care about it this time?"

"Cas said that Angels haven't killed each other since Metatron lost his power." Sam answered, "He's just worried. I mean who could blame him?" Sam looked carefully at his brother. "Angels have been killed for the past few years, then cast out of Heaven, then…" He gestured vaguely. "Who knows how many are left? Cas is just worried about his Family."

"Even if his family is a bunch of dicks who tried to kill him more often them help him." Dean concluded in an angry tone.

The two continued down the road towards the city ahead. After another hour or so of driving, the pair reach an old motel on the outskirts of the city. They agreed they needed to get some sleep before starting the investigation. The car finally slid into a parking space just in front of the office of the motel. Dean walked in, without waiting for his brother, and booked a room. He came out as Sam unfolded from the car. How he was able to cram himself into a car for hours on end would always be a mystery to Dean. They grabbed their bags and headed into the room.

Once inside the dingey room, Dean took up residence on one of the beds. They had traveled to so many places around the country, stayed in more motels than one could probably count that the pair didn't even take the time to look around and take in the sights. They didn't notice the horribly outdated wallpaper that clung to the walls but still left barren spots interspersed throughout. Dean didn't even look at the all the thin blanket and sheets before plopping down on the bed to remove his shoes and get comfortable. Sam pretended not to hear the all too loud creak of the springs as he tossed his bag to the unoccupied bed before declaring he needed to take a shower.

Straight away Dean started to take out his guns from the bag and go through his routine of disassembling them and cleaning every nook and cranny. It was something of a habit to keep his hands busy; some people smoked some knitted but Dean cleaned his guns. He was completely absorbed in his work, the only this he could hear was the steady stream of water rushing from behind the closed bathroom door. He started to go over the facts in his head about what they knew of this case, which wasn't really much. There was a girl, probably some vessel for who knows what Angel, she was killed in a Church. There seemed to be nothing special about the girl, so why was Cas so insistent they they come here?

Dean thought back to the morning. Cas had appeared in an almost-but-not-quite-silent rush of wings, right away he started to tell the boys about this case staying that something wasn't right. It was only because Cas was unrelented in his persistence that agreed to take on this case. Dean finished assembling his gun when Sam walked out the shower. He walked over to his bag, being very careful not to let the towel wrapped around his waist fall. The eldest Winchester kept his eyes trained on his gun, he could have easily made some comment to Sam that would have made him roll his eyes and glare but Dean was too exhausted from the drive to even attempt it. Instead his allowed his younger brother to grab a spare change of clothes and return to the bathroom to get dressed.

The door wasn't even fully closed yet when the Hunter could hear a ever slight change in wind that indicated the Angel of the Lord had come to talk with them. Without looking up from putting the final touches on his gun, Dean spoke up before Cas could.

"So…" His voice was gruff and indicated his tired state, "Do you have any more information?" He looked up to bright blue eyes that met his with the same intensity. Apparently Cas was in no mood to talk to them much today.

"No" His deep voice resonated with Dean, even with one word he could feel the anger radiating off Castiel. "I tried to speak with some who may know something," He looked away to break eye contact, this was something of nervous habit that Dean figured out. Whenever Cas need to talk about something he was uncomfortable with or even ashamed of, he would pointedly look anywhere except for Dean. Right now he was glaring at a particular strand of carpet on the floor of the motel. "It seems like my siblings are still quite infuriated with me and would not aid in the knowledge that I seek."

The Hunter rolled his eyes and stowed his gun back into the bag. "Yeah well… they are dicks." He casually said, this just made Cas frown even more at the carpet. "Anyway, Me and Sam are going to head over tomorrow to check out the Church and the Morgue. Maybe we can drum up some information for you." He smiled slightly to reassure his friend.

"Thank you Dean" Cas looked back up and allowed a ghost of a smile to show. At that moment in time, Sam exited the bathroom fully dressed, he was running a towel through his wet hair in an attempt to dry it. He greeted the Angel before crossing the room to flop unceremoniously onto the bed.

Dean just cleaned up his supplies on the bed, he couldn't help but think that Sam at the right idea. "We can let you know in the morning what we find, until then I am going to get a few hours."

"I will continue to see if I can find more information." Cas answered, "Goodnight Dean" A rush of wind and the angelic being was gone from the room. Dean leaned back on the bed and closed his eyes. He didn't realize how tired he actually was until he opened them the next morning.


	3. Sharp Dressed Man

Chapter 3: Sharp Dressed Man

Armed with a fresh cup of coffee each, the two hunters drove deeper into Chicago to get started on their day of investigation. The brothers agreed that since they are only supposed to ask questions today and collect intel, it would be okay for them to split the tasks up. After a quick game of rock, paper, scissors where Dean lost; Sam opted to go to the church where the murder occurred while Dean got stuck talking to the police that was heading up this investigation.

Sam shuffled out of the car in front of the church, there was stil crime scene tape covering the entrance. He took a few steps towards it before turning back to look at his brother, "When you are done let me know, we'll go to the morgue together." The elder brother just nodded before taking off down the street. Sam could hear the music echoing from the car as it turned a corner and disappeared from sight.

The hunter turned back towards the church. He was able to quickly make it into the church thanks to his long legs, sometimes being really tall had it benefits. Other times it was a bit of a pain, especially when the police tape was placed at an awkward height that made Sam have to duck uncomfortably low just to get under it. He could swear that the person who put up this tape must have been at least a foot shorter than him, if not more. Once he made his way, he could see a few straggling cops left over. This must be the final crew that got stuck with double checking they got the last bit of evidence before the clean up crew got here.

There was an older man who was giving orders to everyone, Sam figured he must be the one in charge. He walked up to the older gentleman and flashed the FBI badge. "I'm Agent Schon, I had a few questions about your investigation."

The man's grey eyebrows shot up in surprise, he stroked the matching grey beard as he looked over the badge that Sam was holding up. After a moment the hunter put the fake badge away and hoped that the other didn't look at it too carefully. "What interest does the FBI have with this?" He asked, there wasn't a hint of malice or suspicion in his voice, he seemed genuinely interested.

"We've been tracking other murders that are very similar. I'm here to see if there is a connection between them" The taller man answered quickly. There was a point in Sam's life when he didn't like to lie. He could remember watching his Dad and Brother interact with people on hunts and could see them lie with such ease, it always made him uncomfortable and question if anything they said to him could have been a lie. Now it seems like he was right there with them, lies came so easily from his lips he never even questioned where they came from.

"Oh, I see. Maybe there is someone doing this to all of them." The cop gave a nod in understanding. "You are welcome to look around, most of the evidence has already been bagged and sent to the station, but I would be happy to help in any way."

"Thank you," Sam answered "I didn't catch your name though." He looked at the older man.

"I'm Detective Rawlins" He extended his hand to shake the hunters, "I'm with the Special Investigations unit of Chicago PD."

"Special Investigations?" Sam asked, it wasn't an unheard of department in some cities, usually a dumping ground for difficult cases and cops. Rarely did he meet someone who worked in that department out in the field.

"Yeah," He gave a soft smile, one that reminded Sam of the very rare but loving smiles that Bobby would give them from time to time. "We take on the most… perplexing cases. But mostly it's investigating to a dead end."

Sam just nodded and asked to take a look around. He could easily see the black scorch marks in the ground from the Angel that was killed. All the pews that would have normally been facing towards the front in nice, neat, little rows were scattered all over. There was no mistaking that this Angel was killed with an angel blade. In fact this was the only way an angel could be killed, and the boys had seen enough in their life to know the tell tale sign of destruction and black marks. The question that was burning in Sam's mind however, was why?

Sure, a few years before Angels were killed all the time. Between the chaos of the attempted apocalypse, Raphael trying to usurp Heaven, Cas bringing the Leviathans, and Metatron causing the Angels to fall, they killed each other in droves. But now things had started to settle on the Angelic side, sure there was the threat of the Darkness and the search to stop her but most Angels knew they could stay clear of her, especially after the failed attempt at taking her down.

Looking around, Sam could see nothing that indicated anything unusual about this killing. It had the same tell tale signs as every other killing they had ever seen. Sure there was a time when it was unheard of that an Angel would be killed, but those times were long gone.

Sam ran his hard through his long hair, pushing it back so he could see a bit better. He thought that maybe is was time for a haircut, although it would never mention it since his long hair seemed to irritate his brother so much. Looking over the crime scene proved that there was no information to be gained. The younger Winchester took out his phone to shoot off a quick text to Dean, once he was completed with his task the two of them can go examine the body to see if there was anything else to find.

Out of the corner of his eye, Sam saw an unusual figure. He looked out the windows of the church, which were blown out due to the explosion from the night before. He could see a man in a well put together suit standing at the edge of the lawn with a scowl. The hunter looked over this person, certain he was not with the police that were lingering about. He was well dressed, possibly a businessman. Sam knitted his eyebrows in confusion, just as he started to move to leave the church the man swiftly turned on his heel and walked down the street. Sam rushed out of the building to attempt to catch up with him, but it was too late- he was gone. Maybe there was something more to this case than previous thought.

XXXXX

Dean pulled the impala into one of the free parking spaces by Chicago PD. He was a bit irritated already that he had to do a whole run around on the phone to figure out which department was heading up this case. It seemed like it was already dumped on special investigations. The blonde stepped out of the car and started to head towards the station. He already knew that no information was going to be gained from this trip, special investigations departments only existed for one purpose. It was a place to send cases they knew were never going to be solved so they didn't have to waste the time or money but could still tell the public that they were working on the case. The same kinds of people worked in these departments, cops that didn't want to actually work.

The elder Winchester was pleasantly surprised when he was greeted by someone at the front desk and was instructed on where to go. He walked up the stairs and down a hallway. Again he was surprised by the amount of cops actually working. They were going through papers or typing reports on computers, the conversations he could briefly overhear were actually about cases and investigations that were actually being conducted. The hunter shook his head in disbelief, maybe this trip would be worth it.

He continued to walk down the hall until he walked into the office of the person in charge. Dean rapped his knuckles on the door as he entered the room. The man sitting on the desk looked like he hadn't slept in days, he hair was a mess and the bags under his eyes had bags. He looked skeptical at the intruder until Dean flashed his FBI badge.

"I'm Agent Cain." He flashed his best smile. Although on the inside he was fuming at the name choice that Sammy had picked out. Technically it followed his requirement of rock star names, but he was still pissed when his brother selected it. "Me and my partner were sent here to investigate the murder of Jennifer Davis."

The cop in charge looked even more confused, "Why is the FBI here for that case?"

"I dunno man, I just go where I'm told." The hunter easily countered.

"Sorry," The man stood and extended his hand. Dean grasped it in a firm shake. "I'm detective Stallings, I'm in charge of SI. Though truth be told, I'm still new to this position and am still figuring things out."

"No problem, I just had a few questions." He took out a notepad to jot some information on. It was a bit weird, usually the younger brother did this but he was off gathering his own intel. "What can you tell me about the case?"

"Not much," The detective shrugged, "We figured her cause of death, but we can't figure the markings." He picked up the open file on his desk and handed it to Dean. The hunter looked over the papers, nothing stood out from what they were able to gather previously. He handed the file back to the detective and waited to see if there was anything else unusual to add.

"Yeah, we've seen those black wings before." Dean said nonchalantly.

"I've never seen anything like it, but that mark on her hand was something else" Stallings shook his head in disbelief as he spoke. The hunter's head perked up at this.

"On her hand?" He repeated the words as a question. He couldn't remember reading anything about it in the article, nor did he notice it on the report he just looked over.

Stalling's nodded, "She had a mark on her hand, like it was burned there. But it looked like it had been there for a while so we didn't add it to the report."

"Really? That's strange." The detective just nodded. Dean pulled a card from his coat pocket and handed it over to the Detective, "If you think of anything else, please contact us."

Armed with a fresh copy of the paperwork, the hunter strolled out of the station and towards this car. He was already on his phone, finding his brother's contact info. He tapped the screen and waited for the ringing to start. It only took about two rings before his brother picked up. They briefly exchanged information as Dean climbed into his car. He started up the beast of a car and headed towards his brother's location.

Roughly 45 minutes later the brothers were pulling up to the Morgue, still dressed in their fed suits. The impala easily found an open spot and the engine was killed. Both men looked at each other, they talked previously about what the detective said about the mark but without seeing it in person they couldn't even begin to figure out what it would mean.

The workers who were on shift lead the two down the hallways until they reached the cold room. The lab assistant scanned over the paperwork on each of the hatches on the wall. When she found the correct paperwork she removed the clipboard, handed it to Sam, and pulled the body from the freezer. A sheet was still covering the body, she pulled it down enough to expose the woman's face and upper part of chest. The Hunters could clearly see the stab wound which must have pierced her heart.

"She was brought in last night, Dr Butters was the one who conducted the autopsy." The assistant spoke to the boys. "He works the graveyard shift, I can find his contact information if you have any questions." Sam thanked her and agreed, the assistant walked out of the room quickly to go find the needed information.

While the taller brother looked through the report to see if there was any new information, the eldest put on one of the morgues aprons to keep his suit somewhat clean. He started to look around the body for any other evidence of the cause of death besides the stab wound. He took a pen and used the end of it to open up the wound and various other incisions that the mortician had done.

"Hey Sammy," Dean finally spoke up making his brother look up from the report. The eldest hunter had the end of the pen holding open the woman's hand as best as possible. "Take a look."

Sam walked over and looked at the mark that Dean was gesturing at. He carefully looked at the palm on the girls hand, it looked very much like a snake. The hunter put on a pair of gloves and took the hand from his brother. He had to fight against the rigor mortis and the cold appendage seemed to seep the warmth from this hand. He pried open the fingers a bit more to see the symbol. Dean looked over his brother's shoulder and at the mark, it definitely looked like a snake with this new light. But it wasn't a realistic drawing, more like a drawing you would see etched into pottery or metalwork from ages ago. "What the hell?" was all the elder winchester could say.

The mark was old, not just in style but in terms of being applied. It looked like it had been on her hand for years. No wonder why they didn't mention it in the reports, realistically there would be no way for this mark to be connected to the murder. But these boys knew enough that there must be something else going on.

"Dean, I think we need to call Cas" Sam said in an even tone. Even Dean had to admit when they stumbled into something weird… well weirder.

The hunter lowered his head, not moving from his position, and started a small prayer to get in contact with the Angel. "Dear Cas, you need to come take a look at this." Short and sweet, that was all that was needed. Dean never knew who may be listening into angel radio so if he didn't need to say something then he wouldn't. He peaked a green eye around the room to see if there was a response. Nothing. "Seriously Cas, I don't know what this means but this is a strange mark." That got a response. This time when the hunter looked up he was greeted with a pair of bright blue eyes. The hunter quickly explained what they had found and pointed at the mark on the dead woman's hand.

Worry spread across of the normally stoic face. Dean could see the Angel's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, he leaned closer to the mark. Suddenly his eye widened in surprise and looked at the hunters. Just as Castiel was about to speak, the doors of the room burst open.

The three turned to look at the intruder. A woman with bright blonde hair stood with her arms crossed over her chest. All five foot of her glared angrily at them. As if to exaggerate her short stature even more, a tall man walked up behind her, he easily could have been the same height as Sam but the coat and staff he held made him seem much taller.

"What they hell are the Feds doing by poking their nose into my case?" The woman spoke through gritted teeth.


	4. I Fought the Law

Chapter 4: I Fought the Law

Sleep is good. Everyone requires sleep without even thinking about it, the only time you ever think about it is when you don't get enough. Sleep was exactly what Harry was trying to partake in, but unfortunately a grey ball of fur was currently on top of the wizard meowing as loud as possible to wake him up. With a groan, Harry stirred from this slumber and opened his eyes to see yellow ones staring back at him expectantly. Mister, the large grey tabby cat, sat on the man's chest waiting for him to get up and feed him. Reluctantly Harry moved, this made the cat leap from the bed and swish its non existent tail before waltzing out of the room.

"Yeah, Yeah. I hear you mister." He grumbled as he got out of bed, shuffled over to pour some food into the dish for the cat, and walked into the kitchen.

Mouse, who was laying on the floor on some of the carpets, perked his head up and trotted over to his owner. With a few wags of the tail he sat by his own food dish and patiently waited his turn. Harry filled the dog bowl up with food. The wizard popped a few vertebrae in his spine as he shuffled towards the icebox in the kitchen.

Without thinking, he reached in and grabbed a coke. He needed caffeine at this hour, it was way too early to be up for the little amount of sleep he got. As he started to chug the soda to try and wake up, he riffled through the icebox a bit more looking for something to snack on. He grabbed the milk and took the box of cereal from the top and pour himself a bowl. Mouse trotted over from his own breakfast and looked up at Harry with a big dopey doggy grin.

Mouse was a large dog, and there is no exaggeration about his size. He was fu dog that Harry accidentally adopted as a pup without knowing how big this animal would get. He was nothing but fur and happiness, but if you managed to get on his bad side then you wouldn't even want to know what would happen. The wizard wouldn't admit it aloud but he loved that dog, even with his healthy fear of the much smaller cat that inhabited the apartment as well.

Harry sat on the couch and quickly started to eat his breakfast. He let his mind wonder back to the case from the previous night. He could see the mark burned into that woman's hand, it was very obviously someone of the order but what or who could have killed her? And what about those black wings, he never saw something like that before. It was bizarre, but of course bizarre was what the wizard specialized in. Well technically he specializes in lost items found, but the amount he worked for both Chicago PD and as a Warden for the council- he might as well add bizarre to his resume.

The way she was killed confused Harry though. He was pretty sure that just stabbing an Denarian wouldn't kill it, those things took a lot of power and possibly a knight of the cross to kill one. He was pretty sure that Michael would have called him if he was hunting one of the blacken last night. He would have to start working on this case soon, Molly was suppose to come over in the afternoon to work on her lessons. There was no way he was dragging the young girl into a mess with the fallen who had a grudge against her dad. The wizard looked over his gloved hand and thought back to that coin that was embedded in the sub basement floor. He knew each time the fallen appeared to him, it was a bit harder to say no.

He finished the small breakfast and moved to put the dishes in the sink. He wanted to go into the Morgue today before the grasshopper came over, maybe in the light he would be able to find something else that could help with with his investigation. He was pulled from this thoughts by a sharp knocking at the door. The wizard walked over to the door and open the heavy thing with as much force as possible to pry it open. Mister took this opportunity to scurry out quickly in a flash of grey fur. Harry was greeted with a stern looking Karrin, she was already ready to go for the day. Knowing her she probably already finished her routine of working out in the morning, had a good quality breakfast, and finished all the work needed before this ungodly hour. Stupid morning people.

"Nice boxers" She commented and let herself into the apartment. Harry looked down and could see he was wearing a pair with superman logos all over it. He could feel his ears heating up at the comment but otherwise kept his face neutral.

"If I was expecting company I would have put on the silk ones." He retorted with a grin.

Murphy just rolled her eyes. "I heard from Stallings" her tone completely changed, it was work mode time. "Seems like the FBI is starting to poke its nose into this case."

Harry just looked at her confused, he remembered the last time the FBI got involved. It did not end well for anyone. "Why?"

Karrin shrugged, "No idea but I intend to find out." After that statement, she bugged Harry enough to put on some clothes. He quickly got dressed, slipping on a pair of jeans and a dark shirt. He put on his heavy leather duster and adjusted the collar. The seasons were just starting to fade into fall temperatures which means there was a good chance this coat would be too hot in a couple of hours, but the amount of spells and enchantments put on this thing had saved his life before. He could deal with a bit of heat if it meant he wouldn't have to worry about a bullet in the back.

Harry grabbed his staff from the wall and pulled the door open for Karrin. With a roll of her eyes at his chivalry, she walked out with Mouse trailing on her heels. The Wizard followed after locking up and putting the spells in place to keep his house safe. Harry and Mouse got into the blue beetle, which only kept the name out of nostalgia and not because of the color of the car anymore, as Karrin got onto her motorcycle and attached the helmet to her head. Harry followed her all the way down the morgue.

By the time Harry arrived and found parking, Karrin is already inside requesting time to look at the body. He instructed Mouse to wait by the car, he didn't know if animals would be allowed inside and didn't want to run the risk of them getting kicked out before they even got to examine the body. When the wizard walked in, he could immediately tell that something was wrong by the expression on on short woman's face. Murphy was pissed. Harry knew better than to try and even talk to her when she was like this.

"What do you mean, they are here?" She asks in a smooth and quiet tone that absolutely send a pulse of dread down Harry's spine, even though the comment was directed at the receptionist and not at him.

"Um…" The young girl looked down that the papers in front of her pretending they held the secrets needed to answer the detective. "They arrived a couple of minutes ago, I was looking for Dr Butter's phone number since they wanted to ask him some questions about the woman he examined last night." She made a point to avoid the bright blue eyes that Murphy kept trained on her, unwavering.

"So the FBI in here, in this building, at this moment?" She asked to clarify and all the other girl could do was nod. She started to move but Harry caught her shoulder and kept his grip firm.

"I know this is not ideal, but we can come back when they are done." Harry stated the obvious, it would be better to avoid these guys.

"No!" The blonde spoke with such determination, usually she didn't get this upset. There had to be more to the issue then she was letting on. "This is my case Dresden."

"Why is it so important?" Harry asked in frustration towards his friend.

"Because it's mine." She huffed and crossed her arms. "They may have taken my job and demoted me, but they can't take this case from me." Karrin jerked her shoulder forward to break the man's grip and took off down the hall with determination in her step. It took a few moments for Harry's mind to catch up with the conversation, but everything seemed to click in place. It was then that the wizard noticed that Karrin was already halfway down the hall.

"Murph, wait!" Harry called after her, but it was no use. Once her mind was made up, there was no stopping the cop. Even with his long stride, it took a few moments before Harry could catch up with his friend. Just as he approached Karrin was shouting at the men huddle around the body. He almost felt bad for them… almost.

With almost identical movements, the two men in suits produced badges from their coat pockets. The third in a crumbled trench coat just stared at them. His eyes were just as bright blue as Karrin's but the way he looked at them was a bit unnerving. He make unashamed eye contact with Karrin, slowly he dragged his eye to meet with Harry. They two looked at each other for a brief moment, the one in the trench coat tilted his head to the side in confusion. Harry broke eye contact first, there was something a bit unsettling about him and there was no well in hell that Harry was going to get suckered into a soul gaze with this guy.

"I'm Agent Schon," The tallest of the three spoke. Harry had to bite back the urge to tell him to cut his hair. "These are my partners, Agent Cain…" He gestured his badge towards the shorter one. "and Agent… Perry." He finished and directed at the awkward one in the trench coat. Harry detected the hesitation in his voice before introducing the last one. It was just a bit suspicious.

"I don't care who you are-" Karrin started but was cut off by Harry stepping in front of her.

"Don't mind Murph" Harry spoke evenly, causing the detective to glare at him. "She just wants to know why you are involved with this case?"

"Hey man," The shorter one with sandy blonde hair spoke, he raised his hands defensively. "We are here for a job, not trying to step on anyone's toes."

"Listen here shorty" Karrin retorted defensively. The man just looked at her baffled. He looked her up and down as if to take in her height again, just to see if her comment was warranted. "No one comes to my town and takes my cases from me."

"Okay Barbie," The man rolled his eyes, that comment just sent fire into Karrin's eyes. Harry could see her clench her fists in anger. "I got news for you then, this ain't your case anymore." The two just stared at each other with such hatred in their eyes. The prolonged eye contact they made could be felt in the room. All the other occupants just stood around a bit nervously.

Harry reached over and placed his hand on her shoulder, as a comfort. This may have been a mistake as the death glare he received from the short woman caused him to instantly pull his gloved hand away as if caught on fire, which he would know the feeling. "Murph," He tried to keep a comforting tone, there was a slight sag in the woman's shoulders but her face remained unchanged. She just shook her head and sighed.

The tallest of the three strangers almost mirrored the Wizards actions. He placed his hand the the angry one's shoulders and whispered something in a hushed voice. He looked at the two of them, "I apologize for my partner. He can have a short temper." The man just ran a hand through his long hair, almost like a nervous habit. "We'll be leaving shortly." Harry wondered if he kept using the word 'short' on purpose, and given the glare the other man shot in his direction it seemed to be the case. "I'm sorry, detectives, but we didn't catch your names."

Harry just snorted a laugh, "This is… Sergeant Murphy." He caught himself in time for the new title change, he needed to be extra vigilant about that in the future, no need to remind her about the demotion accidentally. "I'm Harry Dresden, not a detective but a consulting psychic." He heard a sharp laugh from the angriest of the three. The tallest just shoved him forward, passed a card to Harry and said to if they need to get in contact with them it had the needed info.

Only have the two exited the room did the Wizard notice that the silent one of the three was still staring at him. Almost as if he he was trying to study the very atoms that made up the man. Harry looked back up and saw the blue eyes watching, never breaking contact. It was unnerving as hell. Harry didn't even realize that they made eye contact again, he held his breath. How long had they been looking in each others eyes? He took a sharp inhale, expecting the soul gaze to start any moment. Not that he wanted it, but he just didn't realize how long they had been looking at each other, almost like trying to figure something out that was not quite right in the other man. He waited… 1… 2… 3… nothing. The wizard blinked and furrowed his brows.

This seemed to cause the other man to blink as well. Without saying a word at all; the dark haired man in the trench coat looked over at Karrin, nodded and mumbled something along the lines of catching up with his partners and walked passed them. What a weird guy, and this is coming from a man who regularly plays dungeons and dragons with a bunch of werewolves.

The two were left alone with the dead body. Harry tried to shake the image of those blue eyes piercing into his skin but it left him a bit… strange. There was definitely something up with these feds. The wizard and cop (jeez, that sounded like the start of a bad joke) started to examine the body. Harry was able to get a better look at the mark on her hand, he was certain it belonged to one of the fallen. Although which one he didn't know. He needed to contact Michael to see if he could get more information. Murphy snapped a picture using one of those new fangled phones before turning it off and stowing it. That was probably wise; the less time that technology had to be working around Harry, the better.

There was very little else to look at. So the pair informed the assistant that they were leaving and she took care of the rest by cleaning up after them. The poor girl looked very worried and made a point to avoid Karrin at all costs. Karrin promised she would send the picture to Michael. Harry knew he needed to go see his friend, perhaps he could shed some light on what was happening. He knew that Michael was probably busy, he would wait to talk to him until he came to pick up Molly after her lessons today, in the meantime he should probably head into his office to check the mail and see if there were any messages. It seemed like after becoming a warden he was spending less and less time at that place, but he still needed some place to conduct his business from. He would try to convince Karrin to get some lunch with him before she headed back to work.


	5. Don't Stop Believin'

Chapter 5: Don't Stop Believin'

Dean licked his lips and let a huge grin spread across them. He sat at the small table in the cheap motel room the brothers were splitting. The hunter tucked into his burger hungrily letting out an obscene noise; if there was one thing that Dean Winchester and Death agreed on, it was that Chicago had some good food. His little, but giant, brother watched in disgust as he just shoved food into his mouth. He paused only to look at his brother who looked up from the computer, his salad remained untouched.

"Waf?" Dean mumbled between a mouthful, noting the irritated glace his brother shot him the elder swallowed his food before continuing to talk. "This is a good burger." He pointed happily at the food in question as if to emphasize his point. The younger brother just rolled his eyes and went back to his research, whatever he was doing was probably beyond Dean's comprehension. "So Cas," He took another bite and looked at the Angel who was sitting on the nearest bed, he was looking through John Winchester's journal absentmindedly. Dean was certain he that the mark they saw was not in that journal but the Angel asked to see it anyway. "You staying or what?" He finished the thought once he finished the bite of food.

"If that is agreeable" The deep tone of Castiel answered without looking at the two. "Although I am unsure of what should be done."

"What do you mean?" Sam asked taking a moment to look back from his computer to his friend.

"The mark, with its presence I am unsure if I should alert other angels" He looked up from the journal for the first time, he was distraught. This was a new look for the normally composed man. "It's a sigil to brand the Fallen" Both Dean and Sam looked at each other then back to the Angel, confusion must have been on their face because Cas started to explain without being prompted. "They are fallen angels, called the Order of the Blackened Denarius. They were punished by Heaven for their betrayal, as a result anyone who they take as a vessel is marked with their brand."

"So we are dealing with some pissed of angels. Got it." Dean spoke with such conviction, as if it was truly that simple. Unfortunately life was never that simple.

Cas just shook his head. "They are cursed for all eternity. I don't know of anything- not even an angel blade, that could kill them."

"Unkillable angels with a grudge… awesome." Dean took a long pull of his beer. They had face worse odds though, there had to be a way to kill or at least stop these things. The only problem is, they had no idea if it was another of these fallen creatures that killed the first or something else. Dean let the information roll around in his mind a few moments. They knew what was possessing the victim but they didn't know anything about who killed her or why. "So we know what the girl was, but that doesn't really answer much. And we apparently have Illinois' most pissed off cop working this case too."

"Yeah Dean," Sam said in a questioning tone. "What was with you today?"

"She started it!" He threw back at his brother. Sam just gave it a glare that spoke volumes about how immature it was and how he should just grow up. "Plus, she's really hot when she's angry." That comment treated him to a whole new glare which clearly stated how much of an idiot he was and now they would have to work extra hard to keep the police out of it.

"That man" Cas spoke from the bed, he didn't look at anyone in particular. Just tilted his head to the side as he started off into space. "There was something about him, something faint. Almost familiar."

"Seriously, who introduces themselves as a consulting psychic anyway?" Dean asked as he jammed a couple of fries into his mouth. "Everyone knows those guys are fake. Hell, we've met only a handful of legit psychics before and none of them acted like that guy. What was his name… Harry something?"

With a few clicks of the keyboard, Sam was able to find something easily on this guy. "Huh." Sam almost chuckled to himself. "Someone wrote about him on their blog." Dean stood and walked over to look at the computer. Sure enough he could see the webpage, the picture was of an office door that had the name 'Harry Dresden' on the front. "Apparently he is a PI…" Sam scanned through some of the text. "Hold on," he pointed at one section in particular. "This says they found him in the yellow pages, under Wizard."

Dean scoffed and walked over to the night stand, he pulled out the yellow pages from the drawers. He was still a bit surprised that motels still kept these stocked, afterall you could just look up anything you need online. "There is no way…" Dean started to say as he flipped hurriedly through the book. He was nearing the end when he found the W section. "Son of a bitch," He nearly whispered to himself. "Listen to this: "Harry Dresden - Wizard. Lost Items Found. Paranormal Investigations. Consulting. Advice. Reasonable Rates. No Love Potions, Endless Purses, Parties or Other Entertainment. Seriously?" He looked up at his brother with a look of shock.

"What is this guy then?" Sam asked "A witch maybe?"

"I don't know, there are no wizards in real life." Dean responded

"To be fair," Cas finally contributed to the conversation "You also said there were no such things as Angels until I pulled you from Hell." Dean looked questioningly at his friend but let it slide, there was truth behind those words anyway.

The three of them fell back into silence as Dean returned his attention back to lunch and Sam finally started on his salad. Dean allows himself to be lost in thought. There is no way that wizards are real, that's just some Harry Potter nonsense. Although this guy was a Harry as well. Sure they had met some weird creatures before, this guy had to one of those and he just used his knowledge and supernatural powers to pose as a wizard. Or maybe Sam's suggestions was right, he could be a witch. That would give him the knowledge to use magic. Witches didn't really work with the good guys though, sometimes they did- but not often. The hunter let out a sigh as he finished the last of his take out. They were here investigating the death of an apparent fallen Angel, not looking to gank some witch trying to keep his nose clean.

"Well," Dean finally spoke up. "We have his office address, might as well go and try and get some information from him. Maybe without the cop we may actually get somewhere."

After lunch was cleaned up, the three of them loaded up into the Impala. Dean put in one of the cassette tapes, that worked perfectly well and showed there was no need to upgrade the sounds system no matter how much Sammy bugged him. With the sound of classic rock filling up the silence that hung in the car, the drove through the streets of the busy city. They finally were able to find some parking on the crowded streets near the address they were looking for. After a brisk walk they were able to locate the building.

Dean walked inside, he saw a sign that indicated that the office was located on the 4th floor. When he turned to the elevator, the hunter let out a growl of frustration. "Seriously? The elevator is broken?" He whined. Sam just rolled his eyes and started up the stairs, Cas cocked an eyebrow questioningly but didn't make a comment. The two of them followed Sam up the stairs.

Once Dean made it to the fourth floor, without breathing harder than normal because he is totally still in shape, he joined his brother and angel who were crowding around the door. He could clearly see the golden embossed words written on the fogged over glass, it read 'Harry Dresden - Wizard'. This just must have seriously been some whack job.

"Looks like he's not here." Sam explained, but this was expected. He was helping the police with an active investigation then there was no way he would be sitting in his office. He was probably still with the Detective Murphy working on this case. The tallest Winchester took out a small kit and started working on the lock to the door. He was impressed, normally it was always his idea to do the B&E but his brother just assumed. He must be just as weirded out about this guy and Dean was. After some trial and error, the locks finally clicked and the door creeped open with a bit of noise.

The trio cautiously walked into the room, it was a bit anticlimactic of what Dean pictured a wizard's office to look like. In the hunter's mind he pictured spell books, and various bottles, he imagined symbols lining every inch of wall space. Instead he was treated with a desk with a chair in front, a small sitting area with a table scattered with what looked more like self help books, and a coffee pot that looks like it hadn't been used in a while. Hell there wasn't even a computer on the desk, just a smattering of papers and envelopes sitting on the desk in what looked like no particular manner of organization.

Dean padded to the desk and gingerly started to open the drawers, they weren't even locked. He just found more papers and a few trinkets but nothing of any importance. He couldn't help but notice that most of the mail on the desk seemed to be late notices or rent warnings. For some reason that seemed a bit reassuring to Dean. If this guy struggled with bills like everyone else, he had to be somewhat human right? He looked around, his brother was looking through a filing cabinet against the wall that somehow escaped his notice before. Cas was picking up a few of the books in the table and flipping through them, he seemed to be studying the print on the pages in rapid succession.

The hunter returned his attention back to the desk. He opened another drawer and starting looking through the papers and junk that filled the compartment. He allowed his attention to turn back into his mind as he investigated the desk for anything that would give him additional information. Ideally he would find something stashed in here about the case, but Dean would also settle for finding additional information about this Harry guy. He was so enamored by his thoughts that he failed to hear the heavy footsteps as they approached the door.

The sound of someone clearing their throat had all three of the instructors snap up from their respective spots take in the site of a very tall, very pissed off Harry Dresden who had a very large dog sitting next to him expectantly. Dean didn't hesitate, he reached behind him and clasp his fingers around the gun that was tucked into his pants. He didn't bring it out or brandish it yet, there were a few questions he needed answered first. That was strange thought though, in his training as a hunter he was always taught to shoot first. Only in his recent years of meeting monsters that weren't quite so monsterish did he develop a need for all the information before pulling the trigger.

He could see the 'wizard' tighten his grip on his stick that he carried. This guy was really taking the whole wizard thing seriously if he was okay walking around with a staff like some Gandalf wanna be. Dean could see the marking etched into the woodwork but it wasn't anything he could identify. The dog sitting next to him bristled slightly and the hair on his haunches raised but other than that slight change he remained steady, no growling or bearing his teeth. The dark canine eyes remained locked on Dean, which put the hunter on edge almost as if they dog really understood what was happening.

"Could someone please explain," Harry started to looked at all three in turn. "Why the FBI is breaking into my office?"


	6. Do You Believe in Magic?

Chapter 6: Do You Believe in Magic?

Harry pulled the blue beetle into the parking spot for his office. He recounted the time from when he left the morgue. Lunch with Murphy did nothing to ease her bad mood, he was hoping to have some type of discussion with her since being demoted obviously hurt her more then she would ever admit. But alas, nothing worked. The blonde had kept the conversation on the case, other cases she was having issues with, or even her martial arts training- all topics that were 'safe' and unattached to feelings. Harry scrubbed over his face, the stubble on his chin was starting to get a bit itchy.

Eventually he climbed out of his car, he released his oversize teddy bear of a dog from the back seat and grabbed his staff. The wizard, and dog in tow, walked into the building. Harry's mind was still on idle thoughts of his friend as he ascended the stairs. Once he was at the top he had a strange sensation wash over him. He looked down the hallway and could see that his office door was slightly ajar. He started to gather his will slowly, as he approached the door. He could feel his energy building inside him, nearly boiling to the top.

Using the end of this staff, he pressed open the door and looked around. Those three FBI agents were rifling through various parts of his office. He could feel his anger starting to build to the surface. His voice was loud and collected, questioning the intentions of these men in his office. The three strangers all looked up at Harry. He could easily see the one at his desk reach behind, he could presume it was for some type of weapon. Harry just gripped his staff, the spells danced at the tip of his tongue waiting to be used.

"Why the FBI is breaking into my office?" Harry spoke clearly to ensure that all three had heard him.

"Listen," The tallest of the three raised his hands in front of him in surrender. He could probably feel the mounting tension in the room. "We just were looking for information."

"You can look all you want," Harry replied turning his head to face the man who was closest to his eye level. That itself was a bit unusual, not many people actually stood close to the same height as Harry. "Once you have a warrant." He finished coolly. He could see the guy mull over the words, he pushed his long hair out of his face.

"What the hell are you?" The one with sandy blonde hair spoke up before the other could respond.

Harry just looked over at the open door, he rapped his knuckles on the glass where his name was etched. "Thought that was pretty obvious from the sign." He looked back at the man and for a brief moment he locked eyes with the emerald green ones fixed on him. The wizard shifted his gaze slightly before anything could happen.

"Yeah, well… I don't buy it." He responded, in a swift moment he pulled out a gun and trained it on Harry. "So I'll ask again, what are you? Demon or a Witch?" He kept a steady eye on Harry.

The wizard just rolled his eyes, He let a bit of will leave as he spoke the words, "Forzare." The gun flew out of the man's hands and clattered across the room. It was ended up equidistant between the door where Harry stood and the table where the man in the trench coat stood. He thought about the words that guy spoke. Asking if he was a witch or demon. He was used to people being skeptical about his magical abilities, but never had someone blatantly accused him of being another creature of the nevernever. Almost as if a light bulb clicked on in his head, he realized who he was dealing with. "Oh Hells Bells." He took his free hand and pitched at the bridge of his nose. "You're not hunters, are you?" He asked but already figured what the answer would be.

"We are," The tallest one spoke, the other just gaped at how his gun went flying across the room. "My name is Sam, this is my brother Dean." He pointed at the wannabe rock star looking guy. "And this is Castiel." He finished with a gesture to the silent brooding type guy in the tan jacket. "We are hunters, looking in on the case with Jennifer."

"Listen gents," Harry started. He relaxed visibly and in turn Mouse did as well. "Nice of you to come and try and help, but this is way over your pay grade. Why don't you three just pack up, skip town, and go find a nice ghost-y whost-y you can roasty. Sound good?" His tone was a bit more condescending then previous planned but they did break into his office so it wasn't unjustified.

"I will shoot you just for the hell of it." The green eyed one, Dean, retorted. He wore a very angry expression, Harry was a bit impressed at the threat even after he has seen a little display magic.

"That would be rather difficult without your gun." Harry kept his tone even and looked where the weapon lie on the floor. He looked at the blue eyed man, Castiel was his name, who kept his gaze trained on him. Harry was reminded of this morning, of the soul gaze that never happened. "I should ask you the same question though." This time the wizard kept his eyes locked with Castiel. "What the hell are you? One of the Fae? Or Sidhe?"

The man scrunched his face in confusion. He looked over Harry a few times as if to assess what the statement had meant. "No," He deep gravelly voice was nothing that the wizard had expected. He stood taller as he finished his sentence. "I am an Angel of the Lord."

"Cas!" Dean scolded, "What did we say about sharing that information with strangers?"

"I remember Dean," He looked over had the hunter, Harry could easily see the eye roll. "I am not a child or inept." Jeez, they seem like an old married couple.

"Not saying you are man," He held up his hands in mock surrender. "Just saying that this is some type of crazy person parading around as a wizard with a monsterous attack dog. Not exactly someone I would call trustworthy."

"Listen here you primitive screw heads!" Harry fumed, who the hell did these guys think that are? Breaking into his office and then insulting him to his face. "I don't like Hunters. They are a shoot first ask questions later kinda people which usually isn't a good policy when working with detectives to solve a case. I'm glad you made an Angel friend to help but trust me, you should stay out of this case."

"This case involves my kind." Cas spoke up before the others could. "I asked Sam and Dean to investigate, the skills they had acquired over a lifetime of hunting far exceeds my own investigative skills." He explained in an even tone, not even ashamed to admit that these human hunters were better than an Angel. "I'm sorry but your dislike of hunters is not a just reason for us to leave."

"It not just that I don't like you." Harry said, he could tell that Dean had picked up on his change of vocabulary to make the sting a bit more personal. "I know hunters are good for killing different monsters, but this is too much for you to handle. Even with your angelic friend over there." Harry gestured at Cas.

"Harry Dresden," Cas spoke with such conviction, Harry could feel the energy of the Angel. It was almost palpable. Harry would have never guessed that this nerdy guy in a trench coat could throw off that much power. The wizard could feel the pull on him, the way in which is spoke the name was almost painful. Names have power, especially when given from the lips of the person. Harry is always careful to never say his full name, or else a creature of the nevernever could use that power against him. Even with only two of his names spoken by this Angel, there was still enough force that he could feel his own will seeping out with nothing he could do to fight it. Hells bells, this guy could be terrifying. "I have fought with the Fallen before humans were the dominant creatures of this planet." The Angel took a few steps forward, never breaking eye contact. "I will not allow any interruptions until my siblings have been dealt with." With that last statement, Harry could feel his will drained of its storage, he stumbled back into the door. The only reason he didn't completely fall was because he was holding onto his staff. Mouse leaned against his side trying to keep in upright as best as a dog could.

"So I see that you already know." Harry coughed a bit but regained his composure soon enough. "Fine, Castiel. You can stay, but your hunter friends should leave before they get themselves killed."

"Been there, done that." Dean spoke with conviction. "Cas asked us to stay, so we stay. You can either work with us, or not. But we ain't goin' anywhere."

Harry looked at the determination in their eyes and sighed. "Fine, but Murphy can't know about this." Not only would she be pissed that these guys were going to be involved with the investigation, but she could easily throw then in jail for a long time for posing as FBI.

"Is that the really hot chick?" Dean asked with a smirk, this was the first time Harry heard him talk without being all piss and vinegar. Sam just rolled his eyes and shook his head. This must be something of a usual occurrence between them.

"Don't ever let her hear you say that," He warned to the other man. Even though there was still some awkwardness between him and Karrin thanks to his poor timing reveal of interest, he didn't feel any angry towards him over that statement. It just seemed like a personality trait. "She would have you flat on your back in no time."

"I wouldn't mind being flat on my back for her." Dean chuckled to himself. Sam just rolled his eyes and gave him a glare. It was extremely obvious that they were brothers now. The way they interacted showed they knew each other a long time and can be easily annoyed, yet there was still care in their actions.

Harry just shook his head and snatched the mail the had been delivered over the last few days from the mailbox attached to the door. It was just bills for rent, luckily he was being paid enough as a warden and with his involvement with the police that he could actually cover it on time. He looked back at the trio of hunters.

"Alright, I have a friend who will be coming by my place later today that is an expert on this sort of thing. In the meantime we should start by collecting information about the victim." Harry explained simply.

Sam was the one to answer this time, "Right, I was thinking of heading over to her work to interview some of her coworkers. Maybe we can find something unusual that can help?" He suggested. It seemed like a solid plan so Harry agreed. He explained that he would meet them at the diner, he just needed to check on some things around the office before heading out. The three left the office to just Harry and his dog. He sighed once he was certain they were out of earshot. What was he doing to himself, agreeing to work with hunters. That was one of the dumbest things he agreed to.

The relationship between hunters and wizards has always been rocky at best. Hunters used to hunt down wizards back in the olden days. Only when they started to understand that wizards were only people born with some magical abilities did they stop hunting them. Since then the wizard community has worked to pull themselves out of public spotlight, most hunters don't even know of the existence of wizards. Although it can be argued that Harry brought this upon himself with his blatant advertising of what he is. Most people assume he is a con man or crazy person so he never has had any issues with hunters before.

Shaking himself from his thoughts, Harry quickly checked the messages on this work phone. There was only one, and it wasn't a call he was going to return. Seriously, what part of "no love potions" was hard to understand to some people. He locked the door again when he left, and this time he added some extra wardings into the lock to prevent this from happening again. Mouse followed on his heels as they walked out of the building and into the blue beetle.


	7. American Pie

Chapter 7: American Pie

The old car puttered along on the streets until he reached the address he remembered from the police report. Piling out of his car, he instructed mouse to stay by the bike rack by the windows. He could already see the brothers sitting in a booth and in the middle of a conversation. The tall wizard walked in and sat down next to Dean, almost crowding him into the wall of the restaurant.

Harry just smiled at the scowl Dean gave him. It's not like it could be helped, there was no way that Sam and Harry would be able to fit on one side of the booth. With four of them though they probably should have gotten a table instead. The wizard glanced over the restaurant and came to a realization, he didn't see a trench coat anywhere.

"Where's your angel friend?" He asked, genuinely curious.

"Cas went to conduct his own heavenly investigation." Dean remarked, it didn't sound like sarcasm so there must be some truth to it. The angel probably went to inform the others. Harry did think it was a bit weird that an angel was actually helping in this case. Harry had met angels before, well at least one, and they never interfered. Usually they just gave some cryptic nonsense and disappeared without a trace. Castiel was obviously different from the others. The wizard wondered what made him more invested than the other angels he knew of.

Harry nodded his head, "So no FBI getup?" He asked almost jokingly.

"Sometimes you can get a lot more information as a civilian." Sam answered, "Plus we didn't have a badge for you and I think people would question why the FBI was working with a psychic instead of the real police." That made sense. The waitress brought over the two coffees that the brothers must have ordered before he arrived. He also set down a large slice of apple pie in front of Dean. Harry could smell the cinnamon and apple as it passed in front of him before it settled on the table. Even though he had lunch not too long ago, it smelled very tempting.

"Anything for you?" The waitress smiled and looked at Harry. She was an attractive girl, her chocolate brown hair was cut in a pixie style that somehow made her look very feminine. He just smiled at her and shift his own eyes down to avoid hers.

"Coffee," Harry answered, his gaze looked over at the pie that Dean was already in the process of demolishing. "And a slice of pie too." The waitress nodded and left the table.

The green eyed hunter laughed through a mouthful of pie and slapped the wizard on the back. "Maybe you are are an okay guy. After all, no one evil orders pie." He chuckled and took another mouthful. That logic didn't quite make sense but he decided not to question it. Even Sam was ignoring the comment. The waitress returned with a hot slice of pie and a fresh cup of coffee.

Sam was the one who spoke up this time. "I was wondering if you may be able to help us... " He looked at her name tag attached to the shirt of the waitress. "Ashley."

"Sure thing sweetie, what can I help you with?" She answered politely in a sweet southern drawl.

"Well you see, We are supposed to attend a friends funeral and I wanted to see if you knew her." Sam spoke, he was not the same as when he posed as FBI. At that time he was very confident and collected. This time he played someone who was concerned and looking for information about a friend. Harry was pretty impressed with his shift in personality. "Her name was Jennifer and she worked here."

"Oh hun, I'm sorry" The waitress wore a sympathetic look. "I knew Jennifer, we worked quite a few shifts together. She wasn't much of a socialite though so I never spent time with her outside of work."

"Did she start acting weird at all?" Sam was the icon of a distressed friend trying to get closure on a sudden death. He was good, Harry would have to give him props for that.

"No, not really." Ashley tapped her chin in thought. "Although, she was going to church a lot more in the past few months. She was never really one to go to church, usually just Christmas and Easter. But lately she was attending a few times a week." She looked around and could see a table flagging her down for attention. "Sorry, I wish I had more information. Excuse me." She left the table to go attend to her other customers.

"Think she knew what was coming?" Dean asked, he let his spoon clank into the dish noisily before he reached out and took a drink from his coffee.

"Maybe, that could be why she went to church more." Sam didn't sound like he was convinced that was the right answer but didn't have any other explanation to contest it. "But that was the last few months, the mark had looked like it was years old."

"The mark heals itself." Harry answered while eating his own slice of pie. Maybe Dean was right, no one who was evil could enjoy the deliciousness of pie. "It could have been recent but healed quickly giving the impression it was much older."

"Okay, so this girl finds a piece of haunted money. Picks it up and get recruited for the order." Dean summarized easily, although maybe a bit inaccurately. "Then someone ganks her. Why and who?" He asked the other two. The question was met with a round a silence from the two others. The elder hunter just sighed took another sip of his coffee. "Well fat lot of help you two are." Thee three sat in silence a bit more, each thinking over the details of the case in their own way.

Harry looked over at the clock that was mounted on the wall. "Hell's Bells." He muttered noticing it was already 2:30. "Listen, I have my apprentice coming over after school, I need to get home." He wrote down something on a piece of paper and slide it over to Sam. "This is my address, stop by in a couple of hours and we'll see what we may be able to dig up on the order that I don't already know." With that Harry stood, threw some money on the table to cover his portion of the bill and left, leather duster billowing out due to his brisk pace. Mouse greeted him at the door and they got into the car and drove back to his place.


	8. Neon Knight

Chapter 8: Neon Knight

Dean scowled as he parked the car in front of a two story house. He looked at the house and huffed, he may have started joking around with the man but that doesn't necessarily mean he likes the wizard. The hunter still wasn't convinced this guy wasn't a witch or some other type of supernatural creature. They spent some time doing research on wizards but didn't gain much information. They stumbled upon something called the "paranet", while that was interesting it wasn't really aimed for people like them, they couldn't make too much sense of it all. After about two hours, the brothers called it quits and drove over to Harry's place. The eldest brother looked back at the paper to ensure it was the right place, he didn't see the correct number on the front door.

The hunters climbed out of the old muscle car and looked around the building. Sam was the one to spot the door leading down to what looked like a basement. As they approached the heavy door Dean placed his hand onto his gun, this didn't feel like a dangerous situation but you can never be too careful. Sam knocked on the door, the thumps echoing on the hard metal door. After a few moments, clicks were heard and the door started to open. The brothers could hear the person struggling with the door before it was finally open enough to reveal a young girl standing in the frame expectantly. She had bright blonde hair at the root, a few inches down it was colored pink and blue as if she dyed it but was no longer maintaining the colors so she just let it grow. She looked over the two brothers smiled.

"Harry," She called back to the empty room, "You have some visitors." She looked over Dean with a smirk, he knew when a woman was checking him out but this girl was just a child so he made him uncomfortable. Luckily it was at that moment that an empty soda can launched itself across the room toward the head of the girl. At the last moment she spun around to face it and muttered something incoherent. The can slowed it trajectory a bit but eventually smacked her on her forehead with enough force that she had to rub her hand against the spot to dull the sting.

"Concentrate Grasshopper!" The brothers could hear the loud bass of the wizard they had spoken to just a few hours ago. "You need to be able to gather your will at a moments notice, even if you get distracted by boys. Which, by the way, have cooties and should be avoided at all costs."

The young girl just rolled her eyes and walked away leaving the hunters standing in the open door unsure of what to do. The wizard appeared in the door just after she left, he had a polite smile on his face. Dean noticed he didn't have the coat on from before, he made him seem a bit smaller even though he still towered over the two. He scowled at the realization that even though he was over six feet tall, he looked tiny standing next to his younger brother and this wizard.

"You know," Harry spoke snapping Dean from his thoughts. "If you keep making faces, it's going to get stuck that way that way."

"Thanks Mom" Dean answered in a rough voice. Harry laughed and gestured for the two men to enter the room. Dean took in the appearance of the room. It wasn't too big, rugs covered every inch of the floor and posters smattered the walls. He hummed an appreciation when he spotted a Star Wars poster. The young girl stood in the kitchen area holding, what he assumed was, a cold can of soda to the spot that was hit earlier.

"Oh," Harry closed the door and looked at them. "Boys this is Molly, my apprentice. Molly this is Sam and Dean, they are working a case with me."

The girl nodded but didn't say anything. The brothers stood around awkwardly waiting on instructions of what they should do. The place wasn't really big it had a couch, fireplace, kitchen area, and a door that must have lead to the bedroom.

"Okay, Molls." Harry addressed the girl, "Start gathering your stuff, your dad is going to be here soon and we got some questions for him."

"All I got is my backpack and I haven't touched anything in it." She answered and locked eyes with Harry. "You know, I've been getting really good at vales and if you need help-" Harry held his hand up to cut her off.

"I already told you padawan. You are not getting mixed up in this mess." The wizard actually looked concerned. He turned to the hunters before Molly was allowed to continue talking. "Take a seat. You need anything, water? Beer?"

Dean perked up and was about to say something but Sam beat him to it. "No, thanks." The taller winchester answered. "What can you tell us about the order?" He ventured to ask.

Harry stood by the fireplace in front of them, "All I know is these guys are bad news. They are angels that got kicked out and now the take over people using a coin. I've tangled with them before and it's not ended well." Harry answered, "My friend whose coming over fights them, it's his job."

"Is he a hunter?" Dean asked but the wizard just laughed.

"No, he's more of a knight. He's also Molly's father." The wizard gestured to the girl, she just popped open the tab of her soda and started to drink it. "I was also thinking maybe your angel friend can fill in some missing pieces. He said he's gone toe to toe with them before, it would be nice if he could share with the rest of the class."

"Angels aren't really known for their sharing but we could ask." Sam responded, he turned to his brother to ask the next question. "Could you call him?"

"Don't tell me the angel is on your friends and family plan?" The wizard joked around but Dean just shook his head.

"No I hate texting him. He always uses too many emojis" Dean explained simply, he could hear giggling from the girl behind him. Even though he sounded like a joke, he was being pretty serious. Someone needed to give the angel a crash course in texting. "It's easier to just pray."

"Never struck you for the religious type." The wizard answered but Dean just rolled his eyes. It was too much to try and explain his feelings about God, heaven, hell, and everything. He didn't owe the man any explanations for his actions. Dean sat up a bit straighter on the old worn down couch and bowed his head.

"Cas, we need to talk to you. We got an expert on his way that we can grill but we need to ask you some questions first." Dean looked up but nothing changed in the room. He huffed in annoyance. The hunter knew that he should be understanding, after all he can't expect Cas to just drop everything at a moment's notice whenever they called. Dean decided to try again when he noticed the wizard looking at him questioningly. "Cas, this Harry Potter guy says he has some type of knight coming over but we could use your help."

There was a shift in pressure of the room and a faint flutter of wings before a gravelly voice answered. "Hello Dean." Cas had appeared in the kitchen area next to Molly. The young girl jumped in surprise and dropped her soda.

"Holy Fuck!" She exclaimed and looked at the trench coated newcomer.

"Language grasshopper, your father would kill me if he heard you spoke that way." The wizard scolded but his tone suggested that he didn't really care to much, he just felt like he was required to say it. "But I share your sentiments exactly."

The angel just looked over the girl but didn't say anything about her outburst. "Dean, you said there was a knight?" The angel got back on track, he continued to make eye contact with the hunter in question. Dean just shook his head and pointed at the wizard.

"His name is Michael Carpenter…" Harry started to speak but Cas moved from the kitchen to walk over to him by the fireplace.

"One of the Knight of the Cross?" Cas asked in a curious tone, "I was unaware they were still being called upon."

"What?" Dean spoke up, he was obviously confused by this situation. "What cross?"

"The Cross, Dean." Cas looked over at him, with maybe a hint of annoyance.

"Wait, as in…" Sam started to ask but was unsure how to continue. "Like, THE cross?"

"How many other crosses do you know?" Harry asked, getting irritated that they were just talking in circles.

"The knights were chosen by heaven." Cas continued to speak as if the rest of the conversation hadn't happened. "They were given swords molded with a nail from the cross, they exist to solely to combat the Fallen." Cas explained to the hunters. "With God's' absences I assumed they were no longer given missions." The angel frowned in confusion.

Dean looked over at his friend. He could see the confused expression he wore. The hunter knew that Cas has been having a difficult time in recent years; even after he worked to defeat Metatron and return the Angels to heaven many hadn't been forgiving or accepting of Cas. Even though he knew the other would never say anything, it was obvious that he missed his home. Sure he was content to help the brothers with their hunts and said he didn't care what other angels thought, Dean knew it wasn't completely true. He knew that Cas missed his home and his siblings. Since Dean was the reason that the Angel was no longer in Heaven he figured the least he could do was make sure Cas felt like he was part of their family.

"We'll figure it out Cas." Dean spoke up when no one seemed to know what to say. "One problem at a time." He offered a half smile of reassurance, Cas responded with his own ghost of a smile.

"What do you mean by God's absences?" Molly asked from beside the Angel

"Uhh… he's a bit MIA at the moment" Dean answered before Castiel could speak up. "Don't worry about that though." He finished the sentence before anyone had time to inquire further.

"So…" Sam started up to try and change the track of the conversation. "We have a knight of the cross coming over to fill in some gaps… then what?"

"I don't know." Harry was the one to respond this time. "Michael can fill in some information but that doesn't help us with the case."

"Like I said, one problem at a time." Dean smiled up at the group.

The large dog took this moment to wander over to the wizard and sit facing the rest of the group. Dean just watched this monster of an animal settle on the floor and look at him. The hunter just eyed the beast warily, the dog continued to maintain eye contact and Dean could have sworn that he could see the dog actually thinking. Harry introduced him as mouse, which is a weird name for a dog that was the complete opposite size of a mouse. It was like seeing those giant bouncers in front of clubs that were 300 pounds of muscle but went by the name 'Tiny'. Sam on the other hand made some type of happy noise, and smiled. It was no secret that the younger Winchester wanted a dog of some kind. Every chance he got, Sam would have some type of dog from the time he ran away as a kid all the way up to when he had a thing with Amelia. Unfortunately with their lifestyle pets were simply out of the question.

The youngest hunter stood and walked over with an outstretched hand. He lowered to be level with the dog and waited for the animal to approach him. Mouse turned his head to Sam and sniffed the hand.

"Don't worry," Harry spoke to Dean almost in a comforting tone. It wasn't like Dean was afraid of the dog, he was just uncomfortable. The dog was massive and if he wasn't well trained, the hunter suspected that this beast could probably do some serious damage. "Mouse is friendly, hell I don't even think he knows how to bark."

Sam took one for tentative step forward and reached to stroke his hand through the dog's fur. It was at that moment that Mouse looked up at him and let out a deep rumbling growl. Everyone in the room looked surprised at that. The dog did nothing else that showed any signs of aggression but Sam took a few steps back. Dean let out a little laugh at his brother which just earned him a glare in return.

At this moment a loud knock on the front door caused everyone in the room to look up. Molly was the one to walk over and open the door. She struggled a bit with the heavy door but eventually got it open. Dean could see her hug the person at the door so he assumed he must have been her father. The man entered the room when he was beckoned.

Dean looked over the new man, he wasn't like anything the hunter expected a soldier of god would look like. He was a tall man with broad shoulders. His once brown hair was streaked with grey giving him an appearance of fatherly wisdom. The hunter could see the proud smile etched into his face as he talked with his daughter. The man wore years of crows feet and laugh lines which was not something Dean thought he would see from someone who must have had a similar job to them. Hunters never smiled or laughed enough for them to grow old with these signs of joy on their face. This man however, looked like he was very happy with life. Dean could see the pride that radiated from him as he gathered his daughters school items. The hunters could see Micheal stand a bit taller once he noticed that there were others in the room. Harry walked over and extended his hand which the Knight happily shook.

"Harry, I didn't know you would be having company." The Knight spoke kindly but there was a tone of wariness underneath. "I could have come and collected Molly sooner."

"Nah," Harry waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. "She needed the practice and these guys wanted to talk to you anyway." He smiled at his friend. "This is Sam and Dean. They are hunters." The wizard pointed at the brothers in turn. "This is this Castiel." Michael turned to face the Angel directly, his eyebrows raised slightly as he took in the appearance of the trench coated man.

"I have heard a great deal about you." Michael responded. The statement was shocking to Dean. Cas didn't even know that people were still filling the role of being a Knight of the Cross, yet this guy knew who he was. Cas looked at the man, surprise was evident on his face as well. The man just chuckled slightly before continuing. "Remember, my job is to combat the fallen. Your name may have been mentioned before but I never received orders." He continued to smile warmly at the angel. Cas cast his eye down almost in shame.

Harry cocked an eyebrow, "Fallen? You never mentioned anything about fallen."

"It's not like that!" Dean snapped instantly. "He just told the other angels to screw themselves because they were dicks." He eyed the knight defensively. Dean was not above kicking the ass of some warrior for god in front of his daughter. Although looking at his build, Dean knew that he would be in for a hell of a fight. The years this guy must have done this job was evidence in the hard muscles that adorned his arms, it was probably from the time and energy it took to learn how to properly wield a sword.

"Like I said, I never officially received orders so I do not think Castiel is one of the fallen." Michael didn't react to the hard tone that Dean took before. The hunter could tell that he was a kind and forgiving man, something that they were not used to encountering in their line of work. "My name is Michael Carpenter." He continued to speak. "I assume you who know who I am, and if you have questions for me I am sure it is about the fallen." He ventured a guess. The brother exchanged a look but eventually nodded.

"There is a girl who was killed and we think she was part of the order." Sam spoke factually. "We need to know what can kill a fallen angel."

"Nothing." Michael and Castiel spoke in unison.

"Yeah well tell that to the corpse hanging out at the morgue." Dean spoke offhandedly.

"Dean," It was Cas who answered first. "Nothing can kill someone in the Order of the Blackened Denarius, not even an angel blade. They were cursed to live with their mistakes until Death collects them at the end of creation."

"Cheery," Harry deadpanned.

"He is correct though," Michael continued the conversation forward. "The body they inhabit can be killed but their true form is trapped in the silver coin."

"So… why were there wing marks on the ground at the church?" Sam wondered aloud to the group. "That only happens when an angel is killed." That fact was met with a resounding silence from the collective group. Dean looked over the group they had somehow assembled within 24 hours of arriving at the city. Between two hunters, an angel, a knight of the cross, a wizard and his apprentice they should be able to come up with something. Yet no one offered any ideas or had any theories.

"May I ask, which one?" Micheal was the one who broke the silence.

"Saluriel" Cas answered without looking at anyone in particular, he continued to keep his eyes down.

"That is one I have not heard in a long while. I thought his coin was locked away." The knight had a crestfallen tone. Dean assumed he must he working to collect the coins and hide them so the order cannot cause problems on Earth. "I apologize but myself and Molly must be on our way. Charity has dinner cooking and I promised we would be back in time." Harry nodded to his friend as he started to exit the apartment with the apprentice wizard in tow. "I will pray and see what I can find on my end." He smiled and looked at his friend. "If only we could talk to one of the fallen to surmise their plan." The knight gave a small smirk to the wizard and exited through the door. Dean looked back at the wizard who furrowed his brow in thought. What they hell did that mean?


	9. Living in the Past

"So you gonna explain what that cryptic message was about?" Dean asked harshly staring straight at Harry. He folded his arms and narrowed his green eyes. Harry just rolled his own. If he could get these three to leave, the wizard could do some research in his sub basement. He could actually take his friends advice and try and speak to Lasciel. It was a long shot though, after all she was outcast from the main group lead by Nicodemus and might not know of any plans. As of right now though, she may be their only lead.

"Don't worry about it. It was nothing." The wizard answered is a dismissive tone. The hunter didn't look convinced and continued to stare him down.

"You know, we are supposed to work together." The hunter retorted. "How can we be expected to work with someone we can't trust."

Harry groaned in frustration, he was right after all but the wizard wasn't going to give in so easily. "This doesn't concern you." Harry could feel the tension in the room build. Without realizing it, he started to gather this will.

Castiel was the one who answered, "You are housing one of the fallen." He spoke as if was an epiphany. "That is why there was some familiarity when I first met you."

Sam and Dean stood in unison. Harry could see them reach for where their weapons were without actually drawing them yet. "You're one of them?" Dean's tone took a darker turn, eyeing Harry suspiciously. The wizard collected his will and looked over to where this staff and blasting rod waited by the door, he wasn't sure he could reach them before the hunter could draw their guns. He silently cursed, it was stupid of him to get so comfortable with three guys who were practically strangers.

"Not fully," Cas spoke as he walked over to the wizard. Even though the angel was quite a few inches shorter, he felt like he towered over Harry. His way too blue eyes bore into Harry's own, it was like he was reading something that was invisible to the others. Castiel's head tilted to the side in confusion, must like a dog would. The wizard wanted to laugh at but thought better of it given the situation. "You have not given consent."

"Wait, he needs to say yes?" Sam asked in confusion.

"Of course Sam." Cas turned his back to the wizard and looked at the taller hunter. "They are angels after all."

Harry sighed, I guess there was no point in trying to keep something like that secret if they had their own angelic lie director hanging around. "Fine, I was tricked into picking up a coin but I have not agreed to her."

Dean snorted a laugh, "Dude, you're being possessed by a girl angel?" He damn near giggled and looked at his brother. The younger just scowled and shook his head.

"Laugh it up fuzzball." Harry rolled his eyes. "It's more like a part of her, since I have not agreed she cannot take over me but she is still there trying to convince me to say yes."

"That sucks man," Sam answered sympathetically. "Trust me, I get it. But how is that going to help us here?"

"I can try and talk to her, sometimes in my subconscious I can talk to her." Harry answered, "It's a long shot but as of now, it's the best one we got."

"Okay, so how do we talk to her?" Dean asked.

"Well, considering she is in my head. I don't think you will be able to talk to her." Harry raised one eyebrow.

"I can act as a conduit." Cas said evenly. "I can use my grace to project our consciousness into your mind."

Harry held up his arms in protest, "Woah there buddy, I think you gotta buy me a drink first." The wizard really didn't want them to invade his mind, it was bad enough when the fallen would use her influence over him. There was no way there was room enough for everyone.

"I have done this before," Cas broke Harry from his thoughts. He made eye contact with the wizard, this guy really does this alot. "Although I have not attempted to bring others before." He added sheepishly and switched his gaze over to the brothers instead. "But I do not believe it would be an issue."

"Listen guys," Harry rubbed the back of his neck. "I understand you want to tag along, but this is kinda personal. I mean, it's my mind."

"Don't worry man," Dean smiled wickedly at him. "We will just go in, ask a few questions and then Cas will zap us. We promise not to break anything."

Harry contemplated his answer. He could easily say no, after all it was his place and his mind. He was pretty sure that they may be upset but won't fight him on it too much. He knew hunters were the good guys, they may be a bit too kill happy but, ultimately most were just honest hard working people who were trying to make the world a better place. The worst he was risking by saying no was losing their trust, that would make this case harder. If he could focus his will he could probably summon the angel fairly quick and this could be an easy in and out without the risk of his subconscious self saying or doing anything too bad, after all that guy was kind of a jerk. If he agreed, however, they may get to know him more than he wants them to.

After a few moments he shrugged. There couldn't be anything too bad that his mind would do, right? "Okay, I guess we could do this."

After a small discussion, they all agreed to sit on the floor. After all, four grown men wouldn't be able to fit on the couch comfortably. Harry sat cross legged on the floor with Castiel sitting across from him, mirroring his same position. The brothers sat on either side waiting for the next cue. Harry closed his eyes and felt fingertips tap his forehead without leaving. He assumed the brother held onto the Angel in some way since he didn't feel anyone else touch him.

After a few awkward moments of sitting in silence, the wizard could start to feel something stirring in his mind. He could feel the soft tendrils of the angel's grace entering his skull, it was a soft touch against his mind and the wizard parted his will to allow it to enter. Almost instantly he was surrounded by darkness. Harry could feel himself fall deeper into the depths of this thoughts, all the way down into the subconsciousness. He had never experienced this before, an almost a falling sensation as he was brought down into his own mind. Usually he stumbled upon this place by accident or when he needed. Never had he forced his way in before.

Slowly the wizards eyes adjusted to the piercing darkness, there was a light that faded into existence somewhere above him. Which eventually turned fully bright and allowed his eyes to adjust completely. He stood at the edge of the circle of light, everything beyond the light was a deep, soul searing, blackness. Out of his peripheral vision the wizard could see the hunters on each side of him. He looked back quickly and could see the angel waiting behind him. The four men looked around at the edges of the circle expectantly. That was when Harry saw him, his counterpart.

Dark Dresden, as Harry lovingly decided to call him, stepped out from the darkness. His hair was neatly trimmed and slicked back, he had a neat goatee that made him look wickedly handsome. Harry looked over his subconscious self, maybe he should grow a beard.

"Harry," The other Harry said. "I see you brought some friends this time," He gestured to the others.

"We are here to talk to-" Harry started to talk, to explain the situation but his other self just shook his head.

"I know, remember I am part of you after all." The other Harry smirked. "Your friends brought some weird people with them though." That statement surprised Harry. He looked at the other and could see they wore the same confused expression as himself. "I'm sure you'll meet them. I'll see you around Harry." With that the subconscious Harry walked back into the darkness. After a few moments of waiting, the group was growing a bit anxious waiting for something to happen. Finally someone entered into the light from the edges of the darkness. This man had dark hair, blue eyes, and suit that looked a bit too big for him. He smiled brightly at the group.

"Jimmy?" Castiel tilted his head in confusion and furrowed his brow, although the two men looked almost identical Harry was able to pick up subtle differences between them. Where Castiel stood tall and imposing, this guy was a bit hunched over in a very human like fashion. The angel had a serious expression on his face but Jimmy had bright eyes shining with the warmth of this smile.

"Heya Castiel." The man across from them spoke.

"Wait, I thought Jimmy was gone." Dean looked back and forth between them with a puzzled expression on his face. Harry could draw the conclusion that his must have been the person who agreed to host the angel.

"I am," Jimmy answered before the angel could. "But Castiel still thinks of me from time to time which keeps my memory alive. Especially when Claire is around." He took a few tentative steps forward, "How is she by the way?" The man looked so hopeful.

"She is well." Castiel took a few steps forward as well to place himself in front of the group. "She is with a friend, Jody. And is being taken care of…" The angel cast his eyes on the man and looked apologetic. "Jimmy, I am sorry for-"

"No." Jimmy cut off the angel and took a stern look. "I asked you Castiel. I told you to leave her, I didn't want her to get hurt in all this. You have nothing to apologize for, it was my decision."

"I have still failed though. I failed to keep her safe, she ended up getting into trouble." The angel looked crestfallen, he seemed to really have beaten himself over this. Harry could relate, he has made too many mistakes in his past and people have gotten hurt.

"I know," Jimmy took a sympathetic tone. "Mistakes were made and while I cannot absolve you of all failings I know that she is in a good place now and you will continue to look after her." Castiel nodded his head in agreement. "Don't keep all that guilt inside though, it's not good for you. 'Forgive us the wrongs we have done, as we forgive the wrongs that others have done to us.'" Harry picked up on the bible verse.

"Thank you." Castiel spoke, a small smile placed across his lips. Jimmy gave a much bigger smile, it showed all his crows feet around the edges of his eyes as well as far too much gums. It looked really good on him, Harry wondered slightly if the Angel ever smiled like that. All interactions the wizard had so far was serious and stern. Jimmy turned back around and walked into the darkness.

"So how many of these are we going to have to go through before we get the one we are looking for?" Dean asked the group. Harry just shrugged.

"Normally there is only me so I just have my own to talk to." Harry answered, something caught his eye in the darkness. It looked like the next person was about to enter into the light.

Harry could see the man walk into the light confidently. He looked exactly like Dean but wore a wicked smirk on his face. His tight black shirt showed off his build, something that was probably supposed to look intimidating. This man crossed his arms over his chest and closed his eyes slowly. When they opened, instead of seeing the green eyes of the hunter, they were black. Not just eyes dilated black. There was no other color in the eye at all, black stretched from one end to the other as well as from top to bottom. It was unnerving. Harry wished he had his staff with him at this time. Dean wasn't exactly the friendliest person normally, he could feel the hate radiating off this guy. The wizard looked over at Dean who just scowled at his counterpart.

"Well, well, well." The black eyed Dean said casually. "We finally get a chance to talk." He dropped his arms and Harry could see a flash of something. It was a dark scar burned into his arm. Harry made a mental note to ask about it later, he didn't want to interrupt right now.

"Listen, you douche" Dean spoke to his other self. Harry smirked, it was pretty funny to hear Dean call himself names. "I'm not here to talk to you. We came for one thing and you are not it."

"I know," The other Dean started to walk predatorily around the edges of the circle, Dean stood his ground and glared. "I just wanted to remind you about all the fun we had. All the fighting, killing, hell even the women liked me better." Deans scowl just deepened further.

"Like I said, I don't want to talk to you. And I don't care."

"Say whatever you like Dean. We both know how much you enjoyed it." The other Dean stopped in his tracks which made the regular Dean stop as well. "You can blame it on me or the mark all you want but we know that's not true."

"I don't know what the hell you are talking about." Dean snarled. Even Harry could tell it was a lie, he was getting defensive.

The dark eyed man just clicked his tongue in disappointment and shook his head. "You were always such a horrible liar. I mean, you didn't even have the Mark with Alistar but you still enjoyed that." Harry could see Dean stiffen and reach for a non existent weapon. He could practically hear Dean growl in frustration. "Dean, you can't lie to me. You know I am telling the truth. Hell if you had agreed, Michael would be the one standing in front of you right now telling you the same thing."

The other Dean started up his walking again. He continued to talk, apparently Dean didn't have a response which Harry thought was strange. "That's your problem Dean. You think you are doing the right work but you just do what others tell you."

"No, I'm not." Dean reported with a sharp tone.

"You think you are playing for yourself. But you aren't. You never were. You did what your dad said, then what Heaven wanted, then Hell. You didn't even want to become human again." The other man turned his head now to look at the others present. It was almost as if they were forgotten about until this moment. "Sammy… missed you."

Dean rushed to stand in front of his brother and his other self, he made sure that even though his brother was taller he used most of his own body to block the younger hunter. It was a protective gesture that Harry would appreciate. Even though he didn't really have family growing up he could see start to relate to that brotherly protectiveness with his half brother Thomas.

The other Dean just rolled his eyes. "Please, you think I'm going to waste my time hurting him here?" He gestured broadly to the darkness that surrounded them. "With the shit you say to him, you hurt him far worse than I ever could." The dark smiled returned. "And don't even get me started on how to treat Castiel. The man who rebelled against heaven for you, and you treat him as if he was just a secret weapon to be used whenever you feel like it." The man let out a deep laugh. "And yet you have the audacity to call him your friend."

Dean surged forward and Harry could hear the bone crunching hit of a fist colliding with a face. The hunter looked beyond pissed and the other Dean just wiped the small trickle of blood that ran from his bottom lip to his chin. The dark eyed man quickly grabbed the lapels of Dean's jacket and tossed him back with ease. The hunter stumbled backward before tripping over and landing on his back.

"Fight all you want, but you will never get rid of me Dean" The other man said and turned to walk back into the darkness.

"Impressive" Harry reached his hand out toward the hunter who took it and stood back up. "I've never tried fighting myself before."

"Dean" Sam called to his brother.

"It's fine." The elder grumbled and returned to his original starting spot, Cas was behind him and Harry could see the angel rest his hand on the hunter shoulder. There was the slightest squeeze to try and comfort the hunter, but Dean just rolled his shoulders and allowed the hand to drop. They waited for the next person to show up. Harry could see Sam looking a bit anxious. They had spoken to an alternative version of each one except for him, maybe he would be up next before the fallen angel would make an appearance.

Honestly, this was probably her plan. She was called the web weaver for a specific reason, she was probably biding her time until the right moment when they were all riled up before she walked out. He could just imagine the sweet things she would whisper to them, trying to convince them they needed her to help. That if only Harry said yes she could actually help them. Damn, it was too late to be thinking about that. He should have made this realization before they even entered his mind. What a terrible idea.

At that moment, Harry could see the alternative version of Sam walk into the bright circle. He stood tall, using his full height to tower over them. He wore a perfectly fitting, pressed, white suit. A single red rose stuck out from the pocket on the jacket. He gave a small smile to the group and Harry could sense that all three of the other men shift and stand more rigid.

"Lucifer" Sam said sternly. Harry spun around quickly to face the hunter.

"Woah, woah, woah" The wizard raised his hands defensively. "Asshole Dean and Human Cas I can deal with. But Lucifer? As in the Devil?"

"It has been a while Sam" Lucifer spoke with such an eerily calm voice. "Good to see you again… you as well brother" He nodded to Castiel. "And Dean."

"Really Sammy?" Dean asked harshly to his brother. "After everything, Satan is still kicking around in that noggen of yours?"

"I don't know what to tell you Dean," Sam's voice took an annoyed tone. Harry could probably guess that this must have been or is a tone of frequent discussion. "Being possessed by Lucifer isn't exactly something you can just forget."

"Sam, we need to talk." Lucifer spoke up with called attention back to him. Harry spun back around to face the devil. Lucifer took a few steps forward. "Amara walks the Earth." Harry cocked an eyebrow, this sounded pretty serious. The wizard looked around at the serious faces that didn't react. "I can help."

"What do you mean?" Sam asked hesitantly.

"Remember, I was Father's favorite. I know all about the conflict between him and the darkness." Lucifer smiled sadly. "I know how to stop her."

"We don't need your help." Sam's tone was starting to get much harsher.

"Are you sure about that?" Lucifer smirked knowingly, it really put Harry in an uneasy mood. This was not what he had pictured or imagine the devil would be like. He always thought that the devil would be more evil, not offering help to the brothers. Although he knew it would probably come at a price of some sorts. "The darkness is not just some evil. She is evil, the source of it all. You cannot defeat her… at least without my help."

"Not gonna happen," Dean said.

"Dean…" Lucifer cast his eyes on the elder brother. "So confident, but you will need me. I once told you, I would see in five years. Better late than never"

Dean paled at that remark. He looked at his brother who just wore a confused expression. Lucifer just chuckled and walked back into the endless darkness that surrounded the light they stood in.

"What the hell was that Dean?" Sam asked in a sharp tone.

"I don't know." Dean snapped back angrily. The elder hunter just crossed his arms and scowled even more. He made a point to avoid eye contact with his brother. The group stood in awkward silence waiting for something to happen. Harry couldn't help but think through these encounters, it some something he wasn't really expecting. He figured since they were all here in his subconscious they must have brought their own counterparts but he figured they would have been more similar to his. Harry's subconscious counterpart was just him, although he may have tended to lean towards more aggressive actions. His was nothing like these guys, the hunters have really lived through some messed up stuff if this was the kind of things that hung around in their mind.

Footsteps echoed around them, Harry could see the silhouette enter the edges of the light. He looked at the woman who entered and faced them, she was still just as beautiful as he remembered with her soft brown hair that cascaded down her shoulders. Her smile reached her eyes in a pleasant expression, as if she was truly happy to see the wizard.

"Harry" She spoke with a kind tone and she looked over the man who she wanted as a vessel. "I knew you would come back and talk with me." She continued to look at the wizard ignoring the others.

Just as Harry was about to greet her in response, he heard the deep voice of the Angel behind him. "Lasciel?" Cas moved around to stand next to the wizard. At that moment the Fallen's smile dropped from her face, she looked over at the Angel. She took in his appearance and shock took over her expression, her eyebrows raised and her mouth parted slightly. The wizard felt like he should have been confused as well but they were both angels, it would make sense they knew each other.

"Castiel?" The Denarius nearly whispered, she took a few hesitant steps forward. Castiel did the same. They ended up standing face to face, just a few feet separated them. The other men watched this interaction, they didn't know what was going on. Just before anyone could respond, Lasciel rushed forward to close the gap. She enveloped her arms around the other angel, gently resting them on his shoulders. A few seconds passed before Castiel moved his arms as well, he placed them around her waist and pulled her closer. The rest of the team watched in fascination as the two embraced.

Castiel was the first to pull back, he looked at her with kind eyes and smiled just the faintest. Lasciel smiled brightly back at him. She moved one hand from his shoulder to cup the angel's jawline. It was such an intimate moment that Harry thought for a moment that this must not have been the fallen that's been talking to him all this time. There was no way she would been this… this loving. Sure she was kind to the wizard and never outwardly coerced him into a deal, but she never had been this intimate either. There has to be part of this story they don't know about.

Lasciel leaned forward towards the dark haired man. They both closed their eyes and their lips met softly. Harry could feel his eyes widen in shock. He looked back and could see matching confused expression on the brothers. Man, this was a bad idea.


End file.
